All I want is a house somewhere…

I have bought a number of houses in my life, generally the process has been quite fun. This time – much less so.
What I want is a house on an acre or so that is not hemmed in by other houses, and which is not unspeakably ugly. It would not matter if it was a bit too small provided that there is some available space around it to extend it. I’m not been too fussy about where it is, as long as it is within striking distance of Adelaide.
Can I find it? Not so far, at any rate. And time is running out, with the settlement date for the sale of my present house approaching fast.
It’s a mystery to me why so many houses built recently are so extraordinarily unpleasant. Part of the problem is the bricks they use here, which the sort of mean-looking jobs they use elsewhere in the world as engineering bricks.
I was in New Zealand for most of this past week, inside and working of course. New Zealand architecture is hardly great either, but I went through brief walk in Auckland while it was not raining for 10 minutes, and came across a lovely rectory near the cathedral, built of those beautiful soft red bricks that one sees so often in England. The sun was out, and the building reflected a really lovely light.
It made me feel quite homesick for England.